Tag Archives: Zara

Wedge booties.

I’ve been in love with Isabel Marant boots for some time.  The iconic Dicker boot has become a staple and I love it’s casual coolness.  I also love her dressier boots and I have my eye on the fringe bootie from her collection with H&M that will launch in November.  I just hope I can get online before the inevitable hm.com meltdown on the 14th.

Another boot I have fallen for is the Scarlet wedge boot but at $1500 they will never be justified.  However, my new high street love, Mango, has come to my rescue with their ‘tribute’ to the Scarlet.  At $189 they are too good to say no to I think.

wedge boots

 

We’ve had a fun packed weekend as the kids have been home for Fall break and Simon visited us from Stockholm.  My Fall break started on Thursday night with a great night out with some other Moms from school.  Lots of laughter and chat.

AllSaints

 

Jeans – Diesel Fayza Jogg Jeans // Boots – Grey nubuck Rag & Bone Newbury boots // Sweatshirt – AllSaints

Simon arrived on Saturday night and I grilled steaks…wearing a ‘statement necklace’ – see I’m trying my accessories!

Saturday night

 

Jeans – Diesel Fayza Jogg Jeans // Shoes – Vince Camuto (old) // Top – Zara (eons old) // Necklace – Macy’s (old)

Last night we headed out to a steak house – yes I got my protein in this weekend!  Plenty of great Italian red and a fabulous filet brought the weekend to a great end.

I cannot say how much I love this Zara dress – the fabric is just brilliant – slinky, stretchy, supportive, easy care – and I love the color.  Just a great, great dress and I plan to wear it with leggings in the winter.

Zara dress and peep toes

 

Dress – Zara // Jacket – Zara tuxedo jacket (old) // Shoes – Marks and Spencer (old) // Clutch – YSL Belle de Jour

So now it’s time to enjoy the amazing weather we have and head to the park for Columbus Day before our routine returns tomorrow!

 

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Outfit catch up.

First of all my Golden Goose arrived!! Yay!!! SO fast!! But boo!! Bugger they are too big!! I ordered 39s – both my other pairs are 39s – but these leopard print ones are ENORMOUS! So off they go back, with the 38s on their way to me. Why must a brand be so inconsistent with sizing?  The good thing is they are lovely – quite muted and not too loud at all – if you can say that for leopard print:)

It’s definitely Fall here now – the jeans and boots are out in full force, along with scarves – it’s very exciting!  This weekend we have Fall break from school too so it should be fun packed with play dates for Poppy and Hugh, and Mom and Dad:)

Today I am wearing – shock, gasp, horror – lots of ‘old’ stuff.  My Boden drop shoulder jumper (from the clearance), Gap camo jeans, Zara scarf and grey Newbury boots.  Look at that turf behind me!  We have a whole new yard to enjoy – no more rotting swing set causing a hazard to anyone!

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Monday saw me in my new H&M ‘coatigan’, Fayza jeans, Vince Ninas and an old Zara black tee.  The sunglasses are Chanel from last year (similar here).

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Tuesday I wore my fabulous leopard print hat, old AllSaints tee, old J.Crew jacket (similar here), camo jeans from Gap and my canvas Newbury boots.  Yes, yes, yes – quite a few ‘older’ loved items coming back out for Fall!

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Yesterday I eventually changed into my Boden St. Ives jumper, Fayza jeans, Havaianas and J.Crew wool cap – I was very lazy and worked from home while some burley men worked in the yard laying the turf:)  Sorry for the fuzzy photo – I think I was still shaking after a tabata session in spin class – I thought I might actually hurl it was such hard work!

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Unfortunately we underestimated the amount of turf we needed so they’ll be back next week to finish the job…

new lawn

My weekend starts tonight with a girls’ night out – margaritas and tacos – I can’t wait!

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Accessorizing

I often get very lazy with accessories.  Partly because I forget to add the final flourish, partly because I sometimes feel overdressed with too many, and partly because I’m not sure how to wear them.

I’ve decided that I am going to attempt to incorporate more variety with my accessories over the coming months – that may help me figure out which are for me and which aren’t.  When I glance at the list below I’m definitely a creature of habit and some habits are good to break!

1. I’ve always been a lover of scarves and have learned much about how to wear them and what to wear them with from my fellow bloggers.  I have a whole drawer full at home.  I roll them up and place them by color in the drawer, so I can see what I need with a quick glance.  I think I have scarves pretty much nailed.

2. I’ve started to incorporate more hats this year.  A couple of fedoras in the summer and now my fabulous new wool and leopard print J.Crew caps are making an appearance.  I’d love to try a wool fedora, or even a big boho floppy hat but I’m not sure that is really me.  I’m learning, slowly about confident hat wearing.

3. With short hair I was always overwhelmed by large earrings – as much as I love them!  Now my hair is growing I am finding it much easier to wear hoops (my all time favorite) again, but I do feel far more comfortable with my little diamond studs.  Let’s face it if you have diamonds you might as well wear them!  Also having had my earring holes stitched and re-pierced a couple of years ago – after stretching them so much I could see through them – I am loathe to wear heavy pendant earrings ever again!

4. I really struggle with necklaces.  I always admire other women who wear great statement necklaces every day.  For some reason a necklace is the last piece of jewelry I ever consider.  Partly because I like the look of my bare neck, partly because I don’t like to draw attention away from the earrings, and partly because, in all honesty, I find necklaces heavy and cumbersome.  I have a couple of Tiffany chains that my Husband bought me that sadly never get worn – I resolve to wear these beauties more, though a statement necklace on a daily basis maybe a step too far for me!

5. I love arm candy.  Regardless of my issues with necklaces I can wear bracelets up to my elbows and not be bothered by them.  Bangles, chains, cuffs – you name it I love it.  I have worn my little Tiffany open heart chain every day for almost five years now.  It is part of me.  Watches fall into this category too.  I believe you can never have too many watches and there are some beauties out there to choose from.  I have several from cheap and cheerful sports watches, to a very special one that gets worn most often that my Husband bought me for my 40th.  The bigger the better for me when it comes to watches – I can’t do little feminine things – I want a big face with a chunky strap.  Arm candy – I love it.

6.  As for rings I used to wear a gold one on every finger – uuurgh – it was the early 90s and I should say I was also wearing a black catsuit so my taste was questionable to say the least.  Now I  prefer a far more subtle approach when it comes to rings.  I’ve even put my engagement ring away for now and have been wearing only my Love ring on my left ring finger and my Trinity ring on my right ring finger.  Gold is back in favor with me.

7.  Finally belts.  I am rubbish with belts – I have a whole hanger full of wide belts, jean belts, and skinny belts, yet I tend to wear the same 2 Gap men’s belts all the time.  One brown and one black  – they are the softest leather and the perfect width for jeans with simple silver buckles.  Sometimes I’ll grab the Gucci jean belt, that again my Husband bought me, but the belt on my ultimate wish list is from Hermés.

So there we have it – I’m a girl of simple, very expensive tastes:)

What accessories can you not live without, or do you wish you wore more of?

Finally a couple of outfits from last week.  I wore the plum Avenue57 dress for our kindergarten parents’ party on Tuesday evening with a Zara scarf (new but not online) – I adore these dresses – so easy to wear!

Avenue57 plum dress

 

And then it was all about comfort with the Diesel Jogg Jeans, Zara t-shirt from the sale, Marks & Spencer Limited jacket and Isabel Marant Bobby sneakers.

Diesel Jogg jeans and M&S limited jacket

 

 

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Some H&M treasures.

It’s been a crazy week.  Mostly spent cleaning and preparing to host all of the kindergarten parents, then cleaning and recovering!  The party was fun though and I was relieved to find that many of the parents are as odd as we are:)

This morning I had my annual physical so after being prodded, pricked and poked (oo-er misses) I was in desperate need of some retail therapy.  I headed down to Atlantic Station to our big H&M store, convincing myself that it would be a great place to find a present for a party that Poppy is heading to today.  Of course I had to take a peek at the women’s section which conveniently you have to walk through to get to the kids’ section!  It’s actually a bit of a minefield choosing clothes for someone else’s eight year old, especially as I am basing my choices on Poppy’s current obsessions.  She loves anything with animals or leopard print (I wonder who she takes after?) and H&M have animals in abundance!

So before heading up to the children’s section here’s what I found myself with – nothing I wore goes with what I bought – forgive me – not how I plan to style them!

This great shaggy gilet may not be everyone’s cup of tea – but I love the fact it is longer and shaggy – though we’ll see how much dust and dirt gets trapped in it!  I used to have a coat just like it bought on Portobello Market years ago that my Husband loved!  I can’t see it online right now but it was $69 and there are similar here.  Oh it’s big too – this is a small.

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This is also a small – again $69 – a great coatigan with a cocoon shape.  I think this will look great with skinny black jeans and ankle boots.

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Finally I loved this sweater with a silky print front.  I love the greenish color of the snake print – it coordinates with my petrol newbury boots perfectly!  This is a medium – I think H&M sizing is definitely on the large side!  Again sorry I can’t see it online.

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And here is what I wore today!  Probably still too warm for a jacket but I wanted to wear it!:)

Mango trousers Zara jacket Trousers – Mango (old) // Top – TopShop camisole ($10 from Nordstrom!) // Jacket – Zara (old) // Shoes – Lotta from Stockholm clogs

 

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I’ve been a bad, bad girl.

I’ve been spending again.  Some items just haven’t been worn till now, others are brand spanking new.  Want to see?

Okay first up is a little gem from Fiona’s Avenue57 blog shop.  This is a beautiful silk dress and it comes in navy, mocha, black and plum.  I have all four ooops.  Reason being that buying all 4 was still cheaper than buying one similar style dress from AllSaints.  Justified?  Pah what the hell.  I ADORE this dress!  Fiona will ship to the US too so make sure you take a gander on her store – there are some gorgeous items at brilliant prices!

Avenue 57 dress montage

 

I’ve worn it here with Rag & Bone Newbury boots, an old H&M scarf and my AllSaints Boston cardigan (old).

Next up – the Diesel Jogg Jeans.  These have to be the softest, most comfortable jeans I have ever worn.  Expensive – yes – but I bought mine with a 30% off coupon which recently expired – but it just goes to show that Diesel do offer discounts so sign up for their newsletters in case another one appears!

Diesel jeans and Newbury boots

 

The jumper is Zara and did you notice the boots?  Err ehm.  Okay so my wicked friend Martha messaged me to tell me about the La Garçonne sale last month.  These petrol Newburys were heavily discounted so I sealed the deal.  They are a fabulous green/blue – well petrol color!

Petrol Newbury boots

 

Okay so now the recent purchases.  Mango delivered super quick.  Remember I was quite taken by these coats the other day?

Padded blazer Leopard print wool belnd coat

 

Well what should arrive last night?  I love them.  Mango US sizing is off – they have tried to account for the larger US woman – but it just ends up being confusing.  So a US Large is a UK/Euro Medium.  I ordered a US Small/UK Medium in the leopard coat – it is oversize but it is meant to be – I think I would lose the drama with the US XSmall.

Mango coat

The puffer is a US Large – so a UK XL!! These fit small – and I ordered the US L as there were no mediums left – I probably could get away with a US M but have decided to keep the large so I can wear it as I have here with my denim jacket under it, or a blazer.

Mango puffer

 

So what do you think?  I should be pretty much done now for the winter!  A Zara box and an H&M box have just arrived for the kids too so that will be fun when they get off the bus today!

 

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Great offers from The Gap.

A quick news flash for you today as I have heard many fellow bloggers lauding Gap’s fabulous knitwear selection this season.  In the US for today only you can save 40% off regular priced items using GAP24HR and in the UK Save £20 on £75 or more until Friday using SAVE20.  Two brilliant offers which I plan to take advantage of for my Fall closet.

Here are my favorite picks from their selection.

The Gap striped crew neck jumper:

I love both colors – the trim really makes it special for me.

Gap striped jumper navy Gap striped jumper pale blue

The Sweater zip cable:

LOVE this in cashew crunch – great design with zip closures and perfect for layering in the Fall.

Sweater zip cape

This turtle neck is gorgeous and an online exclusive – I love the boxy cut.

Boxy turtleneck

Finally I had to throw a cardigan into the mix – love this drapey cable knit in grey.

drapey cable cardigan

So what tickles your fancy on the Gap site?

I’ll leave you with a couple of outfits from this week so far.

Monday for work I wanted some comfort so opted for oxfords and cashmere.

Boyfriend jeans and oxfords

Jeans – H&M boyfriend jeans in grey // Shoes – Clarks Hamble Oak // T-shirt – Zara (old) // Cardigan – Boden cashmere Limited Edition sparkle pocket (old)

And yesterday for our first teacher conference of the year – a glowing report was delivered thankfully!

Boden jeans

 

Boots – Sam Edelman Petty // Jeans – Boden pear drop skinnies ($31.20 in the sale!) // Top – TopShop cami // Jacket – Zara

I’ll be back soon with some reports on some new deliveries!

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Where do I start?

Well I’ll start where I left off – our anniversary.  I am incredibly lucky that I am married to an extremely romantic, generous man.  He was so giddy about the day unfolding and all his various surprises he could barely contain himself!  He even created a playlist for me with little clues leading to my surprise gift!

We headed out to dinner to our favorite ‘special occasion’ restaurant – Bacchanalia.  They do a superb seasonal five course tasting menu and the food is exquisite.  And how cute – they even surprised us with a little cake!

Bacchanalia

 

I wore my Ted Baker taxi cab dress which I adore – it feels elegant yet quirky – it’s so fun to wear.  This exact version is no longer available but the print must have been so popular they have released a new version here.  The jacket is a Zara tuxedo jacket from the sale and the wedge boots are also Zara.

Ted Baker dress

 

OH and I

Before we left for our night out we exchanged gifts.  I’m a very lucky girl.  Apparently fifteen years of marriage is a big deal.

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I wish I’d known – I thought I was being particularly thoughtful with my gift of a wooly hat and a pair of socks – I kid you not!

On Friday night we headed out again to take Mike for a farewell dinner.  Another fabulous restaurant and quickly becoming one of my favorites – The Optimist.  They even had frogs legs on the menu which my daring Husband enjoyed.  I had the most delicious oysters followed by the most incredible haddock I have ever eaten – and I assure you I know my cod and haddock!

The Optimist

After much debate as to what to wear, and given my late night on Thursday I opted for comfort in the end.  This is the Zara pyjama suit from last season that I snapped up in the sale, worn with my white heels.

Zara pajama suit

Finally I’ll leave you with a couple of daytime outfits.  The first was from Friday, shopping in the  mall with Mike.

green jacket

Jeans – Diesel Fayza Jogg Jeans // Sneakers – Golden Goose (similar here) // Tank – AllSaints (old) // Jacket – Zara

And yesterday for our first swim meet of the season!

Baseball cap

Cap – J.Crew // Jeans – H&M grey tapered boyfriend // T-shirt – Gap 35% off till 9/24 with code THANKYOU // Sweater – Boden // Sneakers – Adidas Gazelles

Now we’re off for a slap up breakfast before taking Mike to the airport – it’s been a brilliant visit and now I’m in the mood for planning some trips back to the UK again!

 

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Are you ready for some football?

It’s been a major fail with my new diet since Mike arrived.  Having said that, my new found love of cooking has had me pottering around in the kitchen since he arrived.  On Saturday night I cooked one of my favorite dishes that I have come to love since living here in the South – shrimp ‘n’ grits.  It’s so easy to cook too and you can add cheese to the grits, and chilli to the sauce as desired.  Trust me, it’s delicious!

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Sunday morning began early – we were off to watch the Atlanta Falcons play at the Georgia Dome!!  SO exciting.  Watching a football game also means tailgating prior to the action.  As we are amateur tailgaters, instead of grilling, we decided to take an eclectic mix of food including bacon and sausage butties, olives, hummus and grapes – and beer of course!  Obviously my gluten-free living has gone out of the window this week.

Tailgating

Tailgating 2

I didn’t get a full length shot of my outfit – but needless to say I was wearing a Falcon’s t-shirt with my new Diesel Jogg Jeans and my Golden Goose Francy sneakers (similar here).

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The noise was overwhelming in the dome and it was a brilliant game with a Falcons win – though not the easy way!  Poor Hugh couldn’t handle the pace in the 4th quarter!

Falcons

Yesterday we took Mike shopping.  Quite often he likes to get a bargain on this side of the Atlantic and it was nice to have a mooch around the shops on a quiet Tuesday.  We hit Target too for some early Halloween bits and pieces before they all sell out!

TargetTrousers – Harem trousers Zara (old) // Top – draped top Zara (old) // Jacket – Zara (old) // Scarf – School Gate Style blog shop // Boots – Isabel Marant Dickers // Bag – YSL Roady

I felt a bit of a plonker having my photo taken in Target – my Husband isn’t the quickest snapper and he is more intent on making me giggle rather than composing a great shot:)  I wanted to get a shot of my new scarf though.  It is from Avril’s SchoolGateStyle.com shop and the great news for us here is that Avril ships to the US for just $5 regardless of how much you order!  Her prices are brilliant and the quality is fantastic.  I love the colors in this Lightening Storm scarf – bright pink, orange, blue and white on a black base.

Of course it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t fall for something while out shopping.  Recently I bought the new J.Crew wool baseball cap:

baseball

Yesterday I fell for their new leopard print cap – gorgeous, sumptuous calf skin – a great hat that will be worn time and time again.  25% off with free shipping today in the US (code SHOPFALL) helps with the almost $300 price tag if you’re smitten too!  I didn’t buy it yesterday – still compiling a list of justifications and googling frantically for a cheaper version!

JCrew leopard print baseball cap

Finally an outfit from Monday.  The jackets are making a come back with the big cool down we are experiencing here this week.

River Island jacket

Jacket – River Island (available at ASOS) // Top – TopShop camisole // Trousers – Next navy harems // Shoes – Tory Burch Eddie navy flat

Now all I have to do today while I take Poppy swimming is to decide what to wear for our 15th wedding anniversary tomorrow night!!  We’re off for some fine dining while our babysitter is here – thanks Mike:)

 

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Mall shopping.

It’s rare that I head to the Mall – especially on a Saturday.  Normally it is just too chaotic and uninspiring to bother.  Worse still when the Falcons are at home Lenox Mall can be packed to the seams with visitors so I tend to veer clear.  However, this morning my Husband suggested I had some time to myself while he took the children and his Dad for a long walk along the river with the dog.  Well I’m not going to say no am I?

After creating my wish lists over the past week I knew I wanted to step into Zara in particular to see if they had any of the jackets I’d been lusting after online.  Surprisingly they did, so first I tried the TRF biker jacket.  I am on the look out for a simple black biker jacket and thought this might fit the bill nicely.  However, I’m always wary of pleather trim – the quality can vary dramatically.  TRF sizing is normally TINY – I always need a large in the jackets – except for today.  The large was huge – but on trying the medium that was too snug in the shoulders.  Still it was quite a nice jacket – lovely soft fabric and the pleather is not too bad at all.  If the fit was right I may have walked out with it – I still really like it looking at the photo.

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Next I tried on the TRF sheepskin jacket.  This was definitely going to be on my order list but now I’ve seen it in real life I’ve changed my mind.  I thought it looked pretty cheap and the lining shed every where – all over my black dress!  Again the sleeves were really long in the large size.

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I was also going to try this and took it to the changing rooms but once I saw how much fluff this was leaving every where too I quickly placed it back on the rack.

checked coat

My final try on in Zara was this sweatshirt.  It must have been a return as there was only one in the store.  I really liked it but the fur had been stitched down in one spot on the neckline so it looked odd.

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I left Zara contemplating why I was in there in the first place.  I have so much Zara in my closet now and I know much of it was bought on a whim, or because the price was good.  At 42 should I really be spending my money on quick fixes – especially when it comes to coats and jackets?  Again I wondered why my rationale when it comes to boots is so different from other items of clothes?  What makes it so easy for me to buy a pair of Newbury boots and yet be reluctant to spend more than $200 on a coat?

While I mulled this over I decided to head over to Bloomingdale’s to see if Charlie was working at the AllSaints concession.  This week I’d had a quick look at the AllSaints site to check out their pricing – it is significantly higher than Zara.  I am still trying to understand their strategy.  In the UK they are a high street brand, but their prices are so high in comparison to other high street brands.  Here in the US they are fortunate that they are well differentiated, offering edgy designs that few other high street/mall brands can compete with.  Their quality also tends to be exceptional – in my opinion anyway!  Still I think they are expensive and I always need to be strategic when buying AllSaints.

I ended up trying on the Monument Jacket with leather sleeves.  I have wanted an AllSaints Monument coat for so long now and have never been able to justify it.  Partly because most are a longer style and warm for Atlanta, and then also because of the pricing – they’re not cheap!  The shorter jacket is stunning – gorgeous wool with perfect leather sleeves.  It fits snug which I find really unusual for AllSaints.  This is the UK 14.

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As I stood looking in the mirror, slowly falling deeper and deeper in love with it, I realized that all the jackets that I have on my wish list, plus a couple that are still hanging in the closet with tags on them, amount to more than the price of the Monument jacket.  With that sudden realization the deal was done.  The Monument jacket is now mine.  Investment vs. instant gratification.

As is this sweatshirt

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No more purchases from Zara for a while – the gratification I got from these more considered purchases was far greater.

Yesterday I had my roots done and my hair shaped by fabulous Lauren at Plum Salon – it’s always such a treat to go there – I could chat to Lauren for hours!  These trousers were a complete deal off eBay – $18 off a seller in China and they were free shipping and arrived within 2 weeks!  I wore a black TopShop cami with them.

IMG_4567I realized today it’s yet more black and leopard print.  The dress is the cold shoulder, batwing dress from Asos, the sandals are Nine West and the belt is Jessica Simpson from Zappos.

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Oh I almost forgot – remember the Ted Baker dress that Avril sent to me?  Well look what I saw today – more gorgeous London taxi dresses along with phone cases, scarves, bags and sweaters – just DIVINE and great gifts!

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Okay – now off for a lovely lunch out with my Father-in-law and then I’m cooking shrimp and grits tonight – it’s a major diet fail over the next week or so!

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A visitor arrives.

The children are VERY excited this morning.  Grandpa arrives tonight.  Poppy has very kindly said that “he doesn’t need to bring presents – just his love” – I’m sure Mike will be relieved!

We’ve got lots of fun activities planned for the next 10 days.  Lots of great meals out, swim meets, shopping and NFL games!  I love it when we have guests – we do so much that we wouldn’t normally do.  The weather has turned perfect too just in time – beautiful blue skies with clear, crisp air. The slightly cooler temperature prompted me to get my new Zara cut out booties out of their box for the first time.  I love them – they are gorgeous leather, with a great heel height and a funky ankle strap.  I may now officially have too many boots – is that possible?

IMG_7528Boots – Zara // Top – Zara (old) // Skort – Zara

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